Latest

Jimmy Page can tell you exactly when he will become a solo artist again: on August 2nd, right after the Led Zeppelin guitarist concludes his year-long deluxe reissues of the band’s studio albums with the July 31st release of expanded editions of 1976’s Presence, 1979’s In Through the Out Door and the 1982 compilation, Coda. On August 1st, “I’ll wipe my brow, lay in bed and read the paper,” Page says with a grin in a New York hotel room. The next day, “I’ll pick up the guitar, and I won’t stop from that point on. Read the rest of this page »

Beatport has been making some aggressive moves of late, including a partnership to power an EDM channel on Spotify. Now, Beatport is aiming straight for Soundcloud and allowing anyone to upload tracks or a mix to the EDM-centric service.

Amazon Prime has unveiled an exclusive set of 32 new acoustic tracks that represent a new direction for the multi-media platform, being their first move into unique music content.

The acoustics collection, entitled simply ‘Amazon Acoustics’, is largely a series of covers, featuring a number of cross-genre efforts. There are also a few freshly-penned tracks, such as Deer Tick’s ‘Grandfather Song’. Read the rest of this page »

Get ready to cry tiers of subscription. Long touted as a largely freeservice, Soundcloud will soon be attempting to convert its free users into paid subscribers, owing to pressure from investorsand labels.

Since even before it launch, Apple Music has been using social media creatively to promote Beats 1. From “leaking” details to posting “exclusive” interviews on YouTube, Beats 1 and Apple Music are going wherever their audience goes.

A few months back, MBW suggested that a tide was turning in terms of rights ownership: Amazon and Apple were morphing into content creators, and the natural next step was for both leviathans to become record labels.

Back when Keith Moon and John Bonham walked the earth, rock stars were famously banned from hotels after escapades involving groupies, motorcycles, chain saws and the like. Now, travel brands aren’t just welcoming music artists, they’re entering lucrative deals with labels and promoters in an effort to attract a younger, hipper crowd. Read the rest of this page »

Universal Music Group’s parent company made it clear in a release this morning that its faith in UMG head Lucian Grainge hasn’t waned, extending the veteran’s contract “until at least 2020,” according to the company’s statement. “This plan will enable the company to maintain its profitable growth and continue to play a leading role in the transformation of the music industry.” Vivendi’s statement goes on to say that the company plans to continue investments in Africa, China and India and digital listening. Read the rest of this page »

Paul McCartney has claimed that “dozens” of potential Beatles songs were lost as he and John Lennon would frequently forget their work before getting the opportunity to record it.

The bassist was talking to The Evening Standard about how new recording devices have fundamentally changed the songwriting process, revealing that songs he co-wrote with Lennon in the 1960s were often forgotten the morning after. Read the rest of this page »

While there has been significant discussion of late over how streaming services pay artists and labels, the means by which publishers and songwriters are compensated has been shockingly absent from the conversation.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s earlier inclination to amend the consent decrees to allow music publishers to partially withdraw digital rights from ASCAP and BMI blanket licenses may be undermined by another change it is contemplating. Read the rest of this page »

Now it’s launched a new feature where users can get 60 minutes of ad-free listening – so long as they’re willing to ‘engage’ with an interactive commercial after they open up the Pandora app.

Sponsored Listening has been in beta since September 2014.

During this beta phase, video ad units or swipe-able slideshows initiated the hour of uninterrupted listening.

According to Pandora, this resulted in a ’12 percent lift in brand awareness and a 30 percent lift in purchase intent for advertisers’.

Now publicly launched, a brand can also introduce additional rich media units, such as interactive 360-degree product views.

In addition to advertisers like Land Rover North America that have extended from the beta phase to general availability, new brands tapping into the Sponsored Listening solution post-beta include: Corona Extra, Gatorade, truTV and Yuengling.

“As the competition for consumer attention continues to intensify, brands are looking for advertising products that can help them create a lasting impression and resonate with their target audiences,” said Lizzie Widhelm, Pandora’s senior vice president of advertising product strategy and sales.

“Sponsored Listening enhances our suite of engagement-based advertising solutions by building on products such as Brand Stations, and is another manifestation of our philosophy that what’s good for the listener is good for the advertiser.”

“The Sponsored Listening offering is unique, and we jumped at the opportunity to align with this attention-based service during the launch of the new Discovery Sport,” said Kim Kyaw, digital marketing and social media manager at Land Rover North America.

“Pandora’s Sponsored Listening product allowed consumers to engage with the vehicle – by watching a video or by interacting with a 360 degree unit – for at least 15 seconds.

“Opportunities to engage with our consumers around new vehicle launches within premium listening environments are difficult to find.”

HBO is getting a taste of U2’s current Innocence + Experience world tour.

The premium cable network has scored a pair of specials from Bono and company, both set to air in November.

The Time Warner-owned cabler, ahead of its time at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, announced that it would debut a behind-the-scenes documentary with unprecedented access to the band on Nov. 7. A week later, on Nov. 14, HBO will air the band’s Paris concert from Bercy Arena on the same day. The documentary and the concert will be available on HBO GO and HBO NOW simultaneous to the their world premieres on HBO. Read the rest of this page »

Jordan Feldstein’s Career Artist Management (CAM) is expanding. The longtime home of Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke is adding Lana Del Rey managers Ben Mawson and Ed Millett of Tap Management to its executive team under a new strategic venture. The two companies will maintain independent staffs but share resources on strategic projects. Read the rest of this page »